Friday, May 23, 2008

10 Tips For Effective Reading And Learning

Relax Before ReadingConcentration is key factor of effective reading and learning. You will need to relax your mind and swipe off your thoughts. You brain need to be empty by thoughts before you start the reading. It is like giving space to new thoughts which are going to be arise during your reading. Your emotions need to be in neutral before reading. That will give you chance to evaluate your reading. You can do some meditation or listen to soft music before start of reading. Most of all fighter pilots and F1 racers adopt this technic before go to the flight or in race. Try it, it is really effective.

Go Slow with the Reading Never do hurry with your reading. Don't just read. Go very slow with reading. Try to understand each and every word written by author. Try to ask questions to your own self and find the answer. The more deeply you force your brain to think, the better chance you have of learning and remembering.

Take Challenges of Exercises. Authors keep exercises in book for you. But what if they do that for you? You will never attempt the challenge. It will be like, you are hungry and somebody is eating on behalf of you....

Write Your Own Notes In BookIts not bad to use Pencil to write something in your books. You can write lots of your own notes in book. It is really good practice to improve your understanding of what you are reading. Some people don't like to write anything into book, as book get spoil. In this case you can write your notes into separate notebook or even you can use sticky notes. But please write your thoughts.

Give Enough Time To Your BrainThe process of transferring the reading into long-term memory happens after stop reading. Our brain needs time to do processing. If we keep anything new or challenging during the processing time, Some of what you learned might be lost. It is recommended to read before you go to bed.

What Your Brain Need?The performance of Brain is depend on lots of things. But we can follow few basic things to make it more efficient. The brain works best in a nice bath of fluid. Research said that Dehydration decreases cognitive function of brain. The dehydration can happened before we feel thirsty. So, keep drinking enough water while reading [But this also can cause lots of washroom visit and can break your concentration, so keep it in your own limit]. Brain also need good sound sleep. To learn at it's best, give enough sleep to you brain [At least 6-8 hours]. And last but not least, you brain need food. Please eat proper to nourish your brain. Protein, Vitamins, Sodium and Iodine are very important for your brain.

Speak it out Loud.Speaking activates a different part of your brain. If you are trying to understand something, or increase your chance of remembering it later, say it out loud. You can discuss what you have learned or read with some of your friend (Or even with your own self in front of mirror). The discussion will bust the confidence in you. And you will see that you are learning quickly. During discussion you might come out with new ideas you had not known were there when you were reading about it.

When To StopYou should know that when to stop reading. Your brain may overloaded. You should understand the limitation of your brain (I can not read more then 45 minutes in row, it's limitation of my brain). Now one very obvious question, how to know when to stop? If you find yourself starting to forget what you just read, or the characters start dancing on page, then that is the right time to stop reading and have some break.

Feel it !!You must feel the importance of what you are reading or learning. Your brain need to take the reading seriously to learn effectively. Your brain will never take the reading seriously if it don't know the importance of that.

PracticesApply what you have read in your life. Try to put that in your everyday practice. Theoretical and practical both are the different knowledge. You need to apply your theoretical knowledge in your practical life. Coz all reading and learning will not matter until you start practicing that in your routine life. Books will show you the path (Theory) but to walk on the path (Practical) is your responsibility. I might have read everything written or printed about the Everest, but to archived the Everest is complete different thing. My reading and knowledge about the Everest only worth if, I climb and archived the Everest.